Power reciprocating saws including jigsaws and other reciprocating saws are generally referred to in the trade as “recip” saws. These saws incorporate reciprocating drive shafts. The drive shafts operate to drive generally linear saw blades along a predetermined path so as to provide one of a rectilinear or orbital cutting action.
In a conventional manner, the saw blades used with such power tools are attached to the reciprocating drive shafts through a blade holder having a slot for receiving the saw blade and a set screw which is received in a hole in the blade. The blade is clamped in place relative to the reciprocating drive shaft through tightening of the set screw. While this conventional manner of saw blade attachment has proven to be generally satisfactory and commercially successful, it is not without inherent disadvantages. For example, power reciprocating saws are subject to high vibration forces during operation which frequently result in loosening of the set screw. If the set screw does not remain sufficiently tightened, the saw blade may become disengaged from the drive shaft. An additional disadvantage with the conventional mounting of saw blades to reciprocating drive shafts relates to an inability to quickly and easily remove saw blades which become worn or fractured. Because it is often desirable to cut a work piece with minimum material loss, it is desirable to correspondingly minimize the saw blade thickness. As a result, breakage due to the forces encountered during typical use is not an uncommon occurrence. This potential frequency of blade changing makes the ease and rapidity of such action desirable. A further disadvantage of conventional blade clamping arrangements is the necessity for a separate tool such as a wrench for fixation and removal of the saw blade.
Many previous attempts have been made to overcome the disadvantages associated with the above-described conventional mounting of saw blades through elimination of the use of a set screw. However, all of these previous attempts are subject to further refinement and improvement. For example, most of the known devices are complicated and expensive to manufacture and assemble as a result of a construction including many separate parts. Additionally, operation of many of the prior devices requires application of force which is often significant for securing the saw blade in place and loosening of the blade for separation from the drive shaft. Achieving a sufficient force often requires the use of a wrench or other tool.
Conventional saw blade clamping arrangements also generally suffer from an inability to receive a saw blade in multiple orientations. To the limited extend that conventional saw blade clamping arrangements are able to receive the saw blade in multiple orientations, such arrangements are not able to cooperate with a release lever carried by a housing of the tool. Additionally, such arrangements typically require complicated mechanisms for alternatively securing the saw blade to the drive shaft in the various orientations.
It remains a need in the pertinent art to provide a saw blade clamping arrangement for a reciprocating saw that overcomes the above and other disadvantages associated with the prior art. In a similar regard, it remains a continuous goal of the pertinent art to improve cutting flexibility of reciprocating saws to avoid obstacles while retaining cutting efficiencies and quality.